A spacewear fashion show featuring clothing designed for travel in weightless conditions was held at the University of Tokyo's Hongo campus on November 2.

The show was held by Rocketplane Kistler -- a US company that plans to begin offering space tours in two years -- and a group of Japanese fashion designers, as part of the Hyper Space Couture Design Contest. Winners of the contest, which is organized by Tokyo-based fashion designer Eri Matsui with the support of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and many others, will help design the clothes for use on Rocketplane's space tourism flights set to begin in 2008.

The 11 garments appearing in the show were selected from over 880 designs submitted by college students. The clothes incorporate a variety of features designed for zero gravity, such as ruffles that expand under weightless conditions or small air-jet propulsion systems in the sleeves to help you change direction while floating.

[Source: Yomiuri Shimbun]